Winona, Minnesota Coffee Shop & Cafe
Hours: Wed-Fri 7am-2pm • Sat-Sun 8am-2pm • Closed Mon-Tues
BLUE HERON COFFEEHOUSE
2021 HOLIDAY HOURS
FRIDAY 12/24 ~ 7AM to 2PM
SATURDAY 12/25 ~ CLOSED
SUNDAY 12/26 ~ CLOSED
WEDNESDAY 12/29 ~ 7AM to 2PM
THURSDAY 12/30 ~7AM to 2PM
FRIDAY 12/31 ~ 7AM to 2PM
SATURDAY 1/1 ~ CLOSED
SUNDAY 1/2/2022 ~ CLOSED
REGULAR HOURS RESUME WEDNESDAY 1/3/2021
Blue Heron is open again! Our new hours are: Wednesday thru Friday – 7am to 2pm. Saturday and Sunday – 8am to 2pm. Monday and Tuesday we are Closed.
An update from us at Blue Heron Coffeehouse:
First and foremost: we love our community, and we miss you, wholeheartedly. Out of an abundance of caution for you–our staff, our patrons, our friends, our family–we feel it is unwise and unsafe to reopen our doors at this time.
In a time where isolation and grief feel particularly prominent, we understand the desire for community, congregation, and conversation, more than ever. The foundation of our business has always been to bring folks together, to share food, stories, and joy, collectively. Under the current guidelines to reopen, we feel our mission and values would not be adequately achieved. When we do reopen, we want it to feel authentic to our original intent: to bring people together.
Just as we value our moral imperative to protect our community, it is also neither economically viable nor survivable for us, as a small business, to reopen at this time. To prepare nourishing food for you requires inventory from suppliers and labor from staff, both of which we strongly believe must be paid for equitably.
Reopening, for us, would be risky for a few reasons:
At a diminished capacity, we could not guarantee profit for our business nor steady income for our employees, which would potentially force us to close, permanently. Restaurants already face razor-thin margins, and unfortunately, the cost of operation does not decrease alongside capacity. Faced with such an uncertain challenge, we likely would not survive, let alone thrive. We also know that prolonged exposure creates a greater health risk, and we are not willing to put our employees or patrons at risk, physically or financially.
We will take this time to revamp our space and reinvigorate The Blue Heron you have all come to know and love. We will return better than before, but when we do, we want it to be a thoughtful, conscientious decision. We will reopen when it is truly safe, sensible, and sustainable to do so.
Until we meet again,
much love,
-The Blue Heron family
PS: For those interested, listed below are a few links to articles which echo our sentiments at greater depth, about our decisions, emotions, and the realities of being in this industry at this time.
‘Restaurants have lost so much in the pandemic, but what I miss most is you.’ by Ian Boden for Washington Post
‘My Restaurant Was My Life for 20 Years. Does the World Need it Anymore?’ by Garbrielle Hamilton for NY Times
‘More Minnesota restaurants announce permanent closures’ by Andrew Krueger for MPR https://bit.ly/2A5pTdM
NOTICE!!
BLUE HERON COFFEEHOUSE WILL BE CLOSING AT 5PM TODAY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO THE CURRENT HEALTH EMERGENCY.
WE ECHO THE SENTIMENTS OF OUR FRIENDS AT
BLOEDOW’S BAKERY –
“After much thought and careful consideration, we have decided to follow the recommendations of the Governor and CDC and will be closed effective immediately for at least two weeks. With concerns for the safety of our loyal customers, as well as our employees, we believe this to be the most responsible thing to do. We thank you for your understanding and hope to see you all very soon. Stay healthy!”
COLLEEN, LARRY AND THE BLUE HERON STAFF
THURSDAY NIGHT DINNER MARCH 12th
FROM 5 TO 8 PM
AT BLUE HERON COFFEEHOUSE
WILL BE:
VEGETABLE TAGINE
OR
CHICKEN TAGINE WITH LEMONS AND OLIVES
BOTH SERVED WITH ALMOND COUSCOUS
OUR REGULAR MENU AND A SELECTION OF BEER
AND WINE WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE
Blue Heron Coffeehouse 162 W 2nd St. Winona, MN
507-452-7020